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Friday, December 27, 2013

Beet & Brussels Flatbread w/ Pomegranate & Avocado! GF, SCD, Paleo!

Hey Happy Tummies!!

Well I officially fell down on the blogging job over the holidays and I apologize for that. With one less week between Christmas and Thanksgiving, it was hard to get it all done! Did anyone else feel that way?

I didn't even put a tree up in NYC! By the time I was going to, I was already leaving for Cincinnati in 10 days, so I figured it wasn't worth it. Next year I'll go all out :)

So I'm at home in Cincinnati right now, and I'm just basking in how absolutely wonderful Christmas was!! My entire family and the baby (my niece) were all together on Christmas. In fact, everyone spent the night on Christmas Eve at my parents house! It was like a slumber party! So. Fun.

Christmas Eve dinner we had a wine tasting and "nibbling" dinner with lots of different small bites: fish, cheese, olives, veggies...it was more of a "tasting menu." It was perfect because with the baby, it's hard to have a set time to sit down and eat, so it was a grazing supper.

For Christmas dinner, we made a beautiful meal. After we did presents in the morning, my mom, sister in laws, and I made a beautiful feast!! We were in the kitchen all day and it was so much fun.

I made a special dinner for myself (SCD friendly), and they had a nice beef tenderloin. My mom also made sweet potatoes, a spinach-and-artichoke rice casserole (that was also gluten free), and salad. For dessert we had berries with cream. I made a coconut cream, and they had a delicious looking custard (basically the inside of a crime brûlée!--I was jealous haha) I also made a few of my grain/sugar free and paleo cookies. Those will be another post but they're uh-mazing!

And my sister in law did an amazing thing: she researched SCD recipes and made this positively gorgeous ratatouille. That will be its own post because it's so stinkin' amazing, but here's a little teaser.

So for myself, I made a wonderful and festive flatbread.

A Beet and Brussels Sprouts Cauliflower Flatbread with Avocado and Pomegranate Seeds.

Incredible. And it was gluten and grain free, Specific Carb Diet friendly and pale!

I made enough for two flatbreads...one for me and one for everyone to sample. It was a hit, lemme tell ya!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Break your cauliflower into florets and place in your food processor. Process until it resembles rice. Then, place your cauliflower rice in a clean kitchen towel, paper towel, or cheesecloth and wring out all the excess liquid. This is a really important step!!Then, place your dry cauliflower rice into a mixing bowl with the almond flour, egg whites and salt. Stir to combine. Divide the "dough" in half. Cut four pieces of parchment paper. Place half of the dough onto one sheet of parchment. Place another sheet on top and "smoosh" out the dough until it is rather thin. (it should be the size of a dinner plate.) Repeat with the other half of the dough. Place two "parchment sandwiches" onto two baking sheets and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until the edges turn golden brown.Meanwhile, prep the rest of your veggies. Scrub and dry the beets, and cut 1/4 inch rounds. Place the rounds on a tin-foil-lined, olive oil-sprayed baking sheet. Spritz with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for about 40 minutes in a 400 degree oven, flipping once halfway through.

Also, cut your brussels sprouts in half lengthwise -- through the core. In a large frying pan, place them in a single layer, cut side down in 2 tsp EVOO. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let them cook, untouched for about 7 minutes over medium heat. Then, flip and allow to cook on the other side for about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside until you're ready to assemble.Finally, remove the seeds from your pomegranate. You can either buy the seeds already out of the fruit, or carefully remove them with a fork (careful, it stains!)When you're ready to assemble your flatbreads, mash your two avocados with salt, and cut your roasted beet rounds into matchsticks. Spread half of the avocado onto each of the flatbreads. Leave about 1 inch of a border. Then, place your brussels sprouts and beets on top. Garnish with about 2 Tbsp of pomegranate seeds. Serve room temperature.

E-Gads! This was a meal for the record books! It was seriously the hit of the supper. So delicious. It's hard to believe that the crust was made out of cauliflower. Here's a testament to how delicious it was: I made an extra for everyone to have a piece. Now my dad and brothers are all big meat eaters. (They're Atkins guys). And they loved it. Seriously. Not a "pity" like, but a straight-up, genuine, Facebook-endosed like of my meal!

The flavors were so unique and wonderful. The avocado was buttery and rich, with the nutty and chewy crust. (You really could pick it up like a slice of pizza!) And then the beets had an earthy sweetness that paired beautifully with the savory brussels sprouts. Finally, the pomegranate seeds provided this interesting burst of juicy sweetness that rounded everything out.And best of all, it was truly beautiful. I made one "artsy" - with an argyle-like design. And my personal favorite was a more "rustically fabulous" presentation. My family said they could see this being served at a restaurant. It looked like Christmas on a plate, with the lime green and crimson. It could have been the backdrop of a christmas card!

Well I truly hope that you all had a wonderful holiday. Christmas is such a special time to be with the people you care about. And I hope that you all know how much I care about each one of you. Cheesy, but true. Food allergies can be so frustrating and disheartening, and I hope that when you visit my blog, you can fall in love with food again, and find some hope in healing and returning to some sense of "food normalcy/enjoyment."Merry Christmas, blogging family, and Happy New Year!Coming up soon later this week -- Paleo Cookies, My Sister-in-Law's vegan "bomb.com" ratatouille, and Acorn Squash boats (from Thanksgiving!!) (all gluten free, of course) :)
Want more GFHT? You can now get my e-cookbook,The Best of GlutenFreeHappyTummy for only $2.99 on Amazon!